Upper Caste Reservation Bill: The Key Takeaways

Lok Sabha passed the 10% reservation bill for the economically backward upper castes in government jobs and education.

(Photo: The Quint/Arnica Kala)

The bill providing 10 percent quota for the economically backward upper classes has been passed by the Lok Sabha with 323 ‘Yes’ and 3 ‘Nos’. The government will table the bill in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, 9 January.

Earlier, during a discussion on the bill in the Lower House on Tuesday, 8 January, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley made a pitch for its passage, saying almost every party, including the Congress, had supported the measure in their poll manifesto.

Reservation Bill Simplified

The bill seeks to add an additional clause in Article 15 and 16 of the Constitution.

Clause 6 of Article 15 of the Constitution seeks to add a provision of reservation of up to 10% for economically weaker sections in educational institutions. This includes private institutions, both aided and unaided by the state, with the exception of minority institutions.

The extent of reservations however, can be decided by individual state governments, with 10 per cent being the upper limit.

Clause 6 of Article 6 on the other hand, deals with reservation in government jobs and seeks reservation up to 10 per cent. This, however, is over and above the existing reservation quota of 50 per cent.

Criteria for ‘Economically Weaker Sections’

According to the Bill, the state and the centre have the liberty to decide on the ‘economically weaker sections’ criteria, based on broad parameters such as the family income and other indicators of economic disadvantage.

Any community can be given reservation on economic parameters, excluding those already reserved.